Hunter: The Reckoning - The Reckoning by the Bay, Episode 1

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Hello friends, and welcome to another single serving tabletop adventure from Queen's Court Games. I'm Vee. And tonight we have a super fun, exciting new thing for you because we, for the very first time over on Queen's Court Games are going to be playing a wonderful hunter. The Reckoning campaign is titled Reckoning by the Bay and it is written by and run by our storyteller, Zachary Vado. Wonderful guest that we have on tonight. You can find more information about the Reckoning specifically by checking the show notes. If you're catching up on YouTube or listening via podcast, all of that information will be in the Show Notes for you to peruse later. Now, while this is not a horror scenario as bad as some of the others that we've run, there are some topics that certain viewers might find uncomfortable or objectionable. You can get a list of these topics by checking the show notes. The cast has all been briefed on all of these and we all have QCG safety tools at hand. But please, you know as our listeners, we love you, we care about you, make sure to keep yourself safe and take breaks if you need them. Now, with all of that settled, let's meet our amazing cast for the evening. First up, we have our resident Volraven worshipper, it's Alex. [00:01:13] Speaker B: Hello everyone. [00:01:15] Speaker A: Next up, we have somebody who's definitely not a Volpertinger rancher in their spare time, it's Joe. [00:01:22] Speaker C: Hi. [00:01:24] Speaker A: Probably not a goatman in disguise, we have Abby. And lastly, but not leastly, the Mazikeen of this game and also its storyteller, we have Zachary Votto. [00:01:38] Speaker D: Good evening and welcome. [00:01:40] Speaker A: And you all know me. I'm V. With our cast introduced, let us tell you a story. [00:01:52] Speaker D: Modern nights are full of strange, unusual and horrifying things that go bump in the night. But there are some. As a popular movie once said, that bump back the Hunter is a voluntary line of defense between the natural world and the supernatural forces that impose on it. Armed with experience, wit and whatever they can get their hands on, it is their self imposed sworn duty to protect humanity at all costs. Sometimes they go out looking for trouble. And sometimes trouble gets brought to them. Such is the case for this hunter cell that we meet tonight. A small group of experienced journeyman hunters based just outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Your cell has been called upon to investigate a coastal fishing town in Essex County. You were contacted by a fellow hunter stationed at a Nearby University, A1 Dr. Armitage. According to Dr. Armitage, there is a strange energy about the town. It has slowly isolated Itself over the last several decades. Not an abnormal thing for most small towns. But recently, something perked his interest. A man was found miles outside of town, wandering inland. He looked barely human, babbling near incoherently about some horror out of the depths of the sea before expiring on the spot. And thus Armitage reached out to more field experienced hands for this investigation. You accepted. For the good of mankind. And besides, the small payday this could yield certainly helps. And thus we find our hunters in transit north towards the end of their hour or so. Drive. Who is driving this van up to this small fishing town? [00:03:34] Speaker A: I'll drive. Why not? [00:03:37] Speaker D: Wonderful hunter. Introduce yourself. Tell us a bit about yourself. [00:03:42] Speaker A: Well, I go by Smithy. Everybody here knows me as Smithy. Only people who don't know me call me Kelly. Which actually makes it really easy. When I get calls on my cell phone from solicitors or people who are pretend to be someone that doesn't actually know me. It's very, very easy to parse that out. But anybody in this car, they all know me as Smithy. I am the Smith of the group. Not in the same way that Felix is with his bots, but I am. I have a small cache of weaponry and I am very, very good at making other weapons. It's just one of those things that I. I bring to the table. And one of the reasons that this whole group loves me so much. I am a slow morning riser. And I love waffles. [00:04:39] Speaker D: Slow morning riser? Meaning that this drive that you're finding yourself having to do is probably not the most comfortable for you. You probably would have gotten up a little later than the job required. But duty calls. And you do have to make good time when it is needed. [00:04:58] Speaker A: Always. It's part of the job. And I know that. And I will suffer through it. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to complain the whole time. [00:05:07] Speaker D: Of course, whether or not you brought one with you. Who is riding shotgun in this van? [00:05:18] Speaker A: Oh, I guess. I mean, I'm guessing nobody else wants to jump at it, so I am going to say that Vienna actually is sitting shotgun. [00:05:27] Speaker E: Oh boy. And here I was hoping I'd be able to work in the back with my nitrous oxide calendars, but no Vienna. I need to be out in the sun. You sure? You're on the top two most wanted people in the United States at the moment. No one's going to recognize an eco terrace from the front seat. No, not none like that at all. I'm grouchy. About it. I'm upset, but the Slurpee helps, of course. [00:05:48] Speaker D: Vienna, you much rather would be working on your research, on your science. It is your expertise. It is what you bring to the team is that keen mind of research. It gets a little chemical, sometimes a bit more chemical for everybody's liking. But it has proven useful time and time again, has it not? [00:06:08] Speaker E: Certainly. I picked up a few nitrous oxide canisters from a few junkies outside the last gas station we stopped by, which, I mean, I'm sure they're full of it, but even if it is still pressurized air, I could make something with this. [00:06:23] Speaker D: Absolutely. And you did manage to bring your own small cache of things as well. It is a bit harder to get the materials that you need out in the field than it is some other folks, given that you typically need to control the substances that are being used. But you're not without your innovation. [00:06:41] Speaker E: Oh, without. I hotwired a Bunsen burner, which, speaking of, I lean over the seat and just yell back into the van, hey, Banks, that Bunsen burner's still on any of that spill. They'll melt right through the metal. [00:06:54] Speaker D: Well, let's cut over to that hunter in particular, Keith. Thanks. Do you check on the Bunsen burner in question, or are you caught up in your own world? [00:07:05] Speaker B: I think I drift in and out from paying attention. I know very well that I don't want to let whatever this is melt through the floor. Floor. I really don't ask a whole lot of questions as far as what Vienna is up to. I'm just here to be as supportive as I can. Ironically, one of the only people with the shotgun here actually in the back. But I believe that I'm just sitting there. I've been given a task, which is wonderful because it's better than sitting with myself for hours. [00:07:33] Speaker D: Absolutely. And as you check the Bunsen burner and drift back into your own thoughts, tell us a bit about yourself. Tell us a bit about what brought you into this world. [00:07:42] Speaker B: Sure. So I am Keith Banks. I have been a hunter for 20 years. I am 45 years old. The thing that keeps me in this line of business is something that is really the sole existence for me, continuing to be alive, and that is to keep my sibling, Charlotte, alive, who has been in a coma for the past 20 years. Through some various deals that were made, I am able to keep her supported and alive and as healthy as possible. While doing this, I have been given several tools that allow me to carry out the various hunts and it seems that I've accumulated a group of people around me who want the same thing. [00:08:32] Speaker D: A group of people who want the same thing, and a group of people who are a bit more understanding about some of the oddities that come your tools and area of expertise. A thought that causes your eyes to drift over to the long blade that you have just simply tossed on the pile in the back. Not a blade that you give much particular reverence to, but one that you know is necessary for the jobs at hand. [00:08:57] Speaker B: It's poked itself through a 711 cup and it's sitting on top of an expended bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. So, yeah, I don't hold any reverence for the tool, but I know that I must use it. [00:09:08] Speaker D: Not the food that this blade in particular requires, but it knows that it will get what it needs in time. And finally, we mentioned this hunter earlier, but I'd like to learn a bit more about the other engineer of the group. Felix, tell us a bit about yourself. [00:09:26] Speaker C: I am indeed an inventor and I am in the back of the van. I think fairly close to banks, but not too close. The entire everything is still somewhat intimidating to me. And I am tinkering around with my two bots, Wilbur and Henry. Henry is the. I actually need to look that up. I think. Henry is the small one. I keep getting them confused. I shouldn't do that. One second. Wilbert is the bot, Wilbert is the little Roomba, and Henry is tall and lanky. And as I tinker with them and as we drive the fairly unsteady road, I will swear a little bit under my breath in German, as I do when I get frustrated. And, yeah, trying to ignore the Bunsen burner. [00:10:23] Speaker D: You've positioned yourself between the Bunsen burner and Hendri and Willer. Just keeping them safe. Not that they would, you know, fear the fire or be burned by it, but they are your creations and you want to keep them in working order. [00:10:39] Speaker C: Yes, they're more like siblings to me at this point, even if it might be irrational to some. I treat them as if they're living. [00:10:50] Speaker D: Which has absolutely benefited you as you have gone through these days and nights. Things work a lot better when you are kind to them, despite what another hunter's relationship with their tool in this van may indicate. Now the four of you are closing in on your destination. You all were warned by Armitage that this town feels like stepping back a hundred years into the past. Internet access is sparse, save for cell hotspots that you can find here. And there and equipment outside of what you bring will be limited. Traveling across the state, you have an open invitation to stop by the university first where Armitage has procured the corpse mentioned. Should you choose or should you choose otherwise, the town awaits you ahead. What is the move for this Hunter Cell University? [00:11:43] Speaker E: Obviously I have a sample to examine and we have all that information advanced. We can't pass that up. [00:11:52] Speaker A: Honestly, she's right. Because here's the thing. Going in without any information is a surefire way to get yourself killed. And as annoying as it is to have to make this drive all the way up to the university first, it's going to be way, way better than the alternative. [00:12:11] Speaker D: Absolutely. Do our other two hunters concur with the assessment of the folks up front or are you just along for the ride? [00:12:21] Speaker B: I just go wherever I'm needed. I'm sure eventually I'll be pointed in the right direction if it comes to that. [00:12:29] Speaker C: Smithy and Vienna intimidate me and scare me just a little bit. So I'm just going to let them do what they do best, which is take charge. I'm just here. [00:12:42] Speaker D: Fair enough. Plus, this might be one of the last stops of civilization before you find yourselves at your destination. So with a mild detour extending your trip by just a bit of time enough to be slightly inconvenient. But as mentioned, information is information. You arrive at the mid sized state university where outside of the. Outside of the main building, you see a man in a tweed jacket, sweater vest and tie who you know as Dr. Henry Armitage, awaiting your arrival. As he sees Zervan pulls up, he gives a quick curt wave. He seems to not want to be away from wherever he came from too very long. He looks nervous and ready to get back inside. [00:13:34] Speaker E: Don't blame them. Something that valuable, that rare, you don't want to leave it unattended too long. Otherwise venom black like me will take it right away. I'm pretty. I think Smithy has the chance to stop the van, for I've already cracked open my door and I'm hopping out. [00:13:50] Speaker A: And you? [00:13:51] Speaker B: I. I very much imagine. I very much imagine. Keith's response to that is probably to grab onto you if we're still in motion. Like, wait, wait a second, please. [00:14:01] Speaker E: I'm not a fucking child. Come on. [00:14:03] Speaker B: Fine, then don't act like one and try to jump out of the damn car. [00:14:09] Speaker A: I will park the car as. As fast as possible because I don't want Vienna to have to fight against Keith. As funny as that would Be for me to watch, actually, it would be incredibly entertaining. Oh, well, now I'm rethinking it. Hold on. Give me. Let me think. But. No, but I will park so Vienna can get out of the car and we all can get out of the car. Really? [00:14:37] Speaker D: Right. Dr. Armitage looks perplexed as he sees this mild scuffle as the van pulls into a parking lot before Vienna. You get the chance to actually exit the van and rush forward. You are the three of you following in behind. Dr. Armitage extends a hand as everybody comes by. Hi. [00:15:00] Speaker E: Glad to have you, Doctor. So, where is the specimen? [00:15:04] Speaker D: Oh, it's right this way, please. Before we walk in, though, Keith, I believe that you were about to do something. [00:15:11] Speaker B: Oh, I was just going to say I'm very much the last one to arrive. I am not the person that would be fit on a university campus in my current state, so it's going to take me a minute to relieve myself of all the webbing and items. So you all go ahead. I'll catch up. [00:15:27] Speaker D: Fair enough. We'll be on the second floor, room 206. Once you are, once you're writing, please, please come. [00:15:35] Speaker C: And I'm gonna leave Henry with Keith with Bangs, the tall, lanky one, just in case. But I'm gonna take the little Roomba like a pet under my arm, all right? [00:15:49] Speaker D: And Dr. Armitage gestures you all, and he goes. Oh, fascinating little robot you have there. Come, come, let me show you. With your drive up here smooth, didn't run into any problems, I suppose. Sorry. Small talk feels necessary in transit. [00:16:06] Speaker A: Yeah, no, relatively painless, all things considered. [00:16:11] Speaker D: Good, good, good, good, good. Hopefully this will provide at least some context for where you're going. I haven't been able to go there myself, obviously. I'm much more of a stay at home hunter by comparison. But I've done the research that I can, and hopefully this will help. And he walks you all up the flight of stairs around 2 of 6, which is a laboratory. It has a sign on the front that says closed for private sessions. A flimsy laminated sign meant to keep out students and faculty alike. It seems to do its job. As he opens the door and gestures you all in, you see several stainless steel tables in the area. This is, in fact, a laboratory, but it is being used for less conventional academic means. As seated on one of the tables towards the back, you see a sheet pulled over the entire table. The clear silhouette of a body underneath. [00:17:24] Speaker E: My fingers wiggle almost comically as I see this sheet. Oh, Doctor, may I? [00:17:31] Speaker D: Yes, please do proceed with some precaution while this is still a human being. I haven't quite seen much like this. I'm not sure of the full extent of what we're dealing with here or. [00:17:46] Speaker E: The words he left his mouth. I have already rushed over to that table, swept open the sheet dramatically and begun an examination. [00:17:56] Speaker D: As you pull the sheet back, you see a mostly unclothed human male. Looks like the doctor has at least left some lower garments on. This is not a morgue after all, but stripped down. Male, human, very gaunt. It looks like this person hasn't eaten in some days, weeks. There is showing ribcage. The arms are almost spindly at this point. There is no immediate sign of trauma, cause of death, nothing that immediately jumps out to you. No visible wounded. But there they lay dead on the table. Further examination would be needed to learn anything more. But at quick glance, for those of you that are present, and Keith, you as well, once you do join the group, they just look off. Looking at this person feels unsettling, feels unnatural. It's a feeling that all four of you are quite keen on as you've had to rely on it in your hunts. Some things out there blend in very well and you have to rely on the innate feeling that something just isn't right. And that is what is pinging inside of each of you right now as you look at this body. [00:19:25] Speaker B: I would ask if it's a feeling that I am familiar with, given my ability to sense the unnatural and things like that, as this a feeling that I have run across before, or is this new to me? [00:19:38] Speaker D: It feels slightly familiar. Again, this is still a human. This is not a full blown supernatural creature, but it has absolutely been affected in some capacity. To what degree you're not sure yet. But there is a bit of an aura about it that resonates with you as dangerous. [00:20:07] Speaker E: I'm going to go rummaging around the lab for a pair of latex gloves. My first area of examination is going to be the mouth. You can tell quite a bit by teeth whether or not diet was poor, eating disorders, hell, even recent sexual partners. Whatever our friend's gotten himself into, I'm sure to find with a snap of latex gloves, I begin my examination. Holding the head steady. [00:20:28] Speaker D: Absolutely. And for purposes of expediting, we're going to, we're going to conglomerate all of the medical examination under a single roll for you if you'd like to go ahead and make an intelligence and medicine roll. And for, for all of your awareness currently the desperation tracker is at 1 and the danger tracker is at 1. One being the starting point for both of these. [00:20:57] Speaker E: Well, that's a good sign. That is a five success. Five successes on a critical, wonderful. [00:21:06] Speaker D: Vienna. You examine this individual inside of the mouth. There seems to be some sort of plaque buildup around the teeth, filling in the gaps around the enamel. It's still tacky to the touch. You can see the latex pull on it as you touch. You continue your examination, opening up the eyes. You see it before you even have to pull back the lids. There is a bulging happening at the eyes. And as you pull them back, you can see the eyeballs themselves have pushed themselves a bit out of the socket, exposing far more of the eye than is normal or safe for a human. You may have seen carnival workers, people in things such as Ripley's Believe it or not perform such a feat. But it's not a natural state of being for a lot of people, particularly not to this level. [00:22:04] Speaker E: It's almost like a deep sea fish. And I'm saying this casually as I'm probing the eye lightly. You see, normally with mammalian decay, the eye shrinks. It's why funeral parlors, they have little caps under to make them look more lifelike. We notice here our spider specimen. I turn his head rather a little too casually for someone who hasn't experienced a dead body to the crowd. Notice how his eyes are bulging. You see that in fish specimens, particularly deep sea specimens. This at this rate of decay is unusual. [00:22:37] Speaker D: And as you continue your examination, this observation seems to be not unfounded, not limited to just the eyes. You notice a patterning on the skin, much easier to see when you were actually up close and examining it. That seems to run the length of the arms, around the edge of the eyes, down the neck, a very dry, scaly patterning. You in medical field would know this as ichthyosis vulgaris to the normal human that would suffer such a condition. But coupled with the bulging of eyes, it is even more notable. Notable still, as you work your way down to the man's hands and you see that skin has started to grow in between the fingers. Not all the way up, but just enough to be visible, just not to be noticeably different, noticeably webbed. It almost looks like the hand wasn't fully formed at this point. But again, using your logical jumps backwards, you continue this line of thinking of deep sea. And that on your critical win, is what causes you to start looking in more peculiar places. As you're starting to think along an aquatic line. As you pull the ear forward. You notice the ear pulls forward significantly, as if it is not as attached anymore. Folding over and behind each ear, you see the faintest of three slit lines running from the base of the earth just down past the earlobe. They look very closed, crusted over at this point. They don't look fully developed. As you pry them open, they don't seem like they would actually be functional at this level. But there is no mistaking what they are, especially with the observation that you have made. [00:24:57] Speaker E: Well, this goes beyond inbred hick with congenital deformities. I tap at his skin, kind of usher the others closer. Well, confirms we're not just here to interview a bunch of closed in country folk. [00:25:18] Speaker A: I don't know that I've ever seen a person with gills before. [00:25:25] Speaker B: I think if in seeing the gills, is this body opened, like, do we have the zipper on the front of it to open them up? [00:25:34] Speaker E: And look, it's not Teddy Bear, Keith. Jesus Christ. [00:25:37] Speaker D: It is. There is the Y stitching. It would have to be split open to observe, but you wouldn't have to make the incision anymore. [00:25:47] Speaker B: Right, Right. So it's like the cadavers where they install zippers in them. Gotcha. Okay, I'm probably going to Espiona looking at him be like, so if he has gills, that means his lungs should be almost non existent. Right. [00:26:03] Speaker E: If they were functional either under formed or replaced with a swim bladder in this case. Dr. Armwich, do you have a scaffold I could use? [00:26:13] Speaker D: Yes, of course. And he gestures over to one of the steel back tables that has the tools on it that he used before you arrived. As he's not gloved up and whatnot, he's not going to go and grab it for you, but he's going to point you in that direction. [00:26:30] Speaker E: Thank you. Rest of you, masks on. We have no idea what this man has consumed. [00:26:36] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely. Right on it. As soon as. As soon as there's talk about opening somebody up. Yeah. Grab everything possible. [00:26:48] Speaker E: I'll start with the incision. [00:26:51] Speaker D: It's very easy to cut open something that has already been cut and stitched. Less pressure is needed at this point. Digging your fingers into the skin, you peel back with a sticky sound. This man's chest. You all are very glad that you had the masks on. Despite the filtering, you can still smell this briny smell that comes out of this man's chest cavity as it is opened. Vienna, you see lungs clearly there, though they do appear to be somewhat atrophied. Not completely useless, but perhaps the lungs of somebody that might experience severe asthma at this rate. Or possibly even a smoker, but without all of the toxin inside of the lung. [00:27:48] Speaker E: Underdeveloped lungs, that's one thing. Keith, let's look at the rest of these organs. We need to determine a cause of death. [00:27:56] Speaker D: Everything else in the body seems standard for a human body. You're not able to pinpoint anything off. There's no. There are no organs removed. There is nothing that should be there, that isn't there or is wrong. The thing that seems the most off are the lungs. And with your critical success, if you were to make a diagnosis of death, you might assume that there was some conflict between method of breathing, an incomplete evolution that would not allow for one or the other to take place and thus not getting the oxygen needed. [00:28:44] Speaker E: I trace the scalpel along noting how atrophied small, there's damage there, irritation. It's actually quite similar to how tuberocules form. All right. Well, we can't say for certain. I would have to run a toxicity test and whatnot. But right now the working theory I have is incompatibility with life due to inability to rest fright properly. My guess is that these and I tapped the under formed gills. He was at a point of evolution where he could not process life on land and yet was somehow drawn to it. Where was he found again, doctor? [00:29:21] Speaker D: He was found just outside of the town in question that I directed you all to. In Gloucester county or not? Gloucester? Yes, Gloucester County. It's technically still part of the city of Gloucester on the way to Rockport, but it's one of those small areas that it's not big enough to be found. [00:29:38] Speaker E: How far from the coast is it? [00:29:40] Speaker D: The town itself is on the coast. He was found several miles inland at this point. That's what I'm saying, outside of the town. And that's why I called you all here. Because one of two things is clear. Either this is some creature of its own, right, that came from that direction, in which case it must be investigated to see if any more of them are over there. Or this is a man from that town and something has happened to him and he found himself not in that town, or something in that town is doing this to people. We need to make sure A that A that this isn't happening to more people and B that it doesn't happen to more people, it can't happen to more people. Hence, hence all of you. Hopefully this is best case scenario. This is a strange one off, but. Well, you are the experienced Ones. [00:30:43] Speaker C: So either we have somebody who's doing experiments on people, or we have a fish thing that turned human. Esque. [00:30:53] Speaker D: That's what I've been able to narrow down, yes. [00:30:55] Speaker C: Okay, so we don't know what came first, the fish or the human. [00:30:59] Speaker D: Correct. In this instance. [00:31:01] Speaker C: Got it. [00:31:01] Speaker E: Cool. [00:31:02] Speaker D: It's great. [00:31:03] Speaker C: Great. Vienna. Any ideas? [00:31:06] Speaker D: If I were going to make an observation, this individual is significantly more human than they are aquatic. So I would infer that this was a human that has been pushed more in the aquatic direction rather than the other way around, simply for efficiency's sake. The fact that it would be able to change itself, this human, only to crash out seems to make less sense to me than a person that was modified and could not handle the modification. [00:31:35] Speaker E: Very astute. If we witnessed modification here, we'd see a lot more scarring, evidence of healing. This is more akin to, say, a frog tadpole becoming a pollywog, and so on and so forth. It's smooth. Oh, there isn't any stretch marks on him. Do we have a name at all? Identity? [00:31:54] Speaker D: No, he had nothing on him. [00:31:58] Speaker E: Oh, shame. I was hoping we'd have family members. [00:32:01] Speaker A: Did you note any scarring or any. I mean, if this was an attack, something that was caused by another creature? [00:32:10] Speaker D: Nothing that I note. Nothing notable. There's some scuffing on the palms of the hands and the knees, possibly from where it fell multiple times. But it didn't seem that there was any combat in particular. If anything, I would say that this simply wanted to get out. Why else would you leave the safety of water and go farther, further inland, except to get to a bigger city? [00:32:39] Speaker E: I lean back from the table, look at the rest of the crew. How do you feel about being met in black for the day? [00:32:50] Speaker B: Is that different than any other day? [00:32:54] Speaker E: You get to look more official and I hold up an old government badge. You get to be real intimidating. Wave some hands around. [00:33:04] Speaker A: Easy. [00:33:06] Speaker B: I could do that. [00:33:07] Speaker E: Knew you had it in you, Smithy. [00:33:10] Speaker C: I look good in black, all right. [00:33:13] Speaker E: How long's the drive, Doctor? [00:33:16] Speaker D: At this rate, you're probably only about a half hour or 45 minutes out of town. We're not too terribly far away, but, you know, that's sort of the beauty of the area. Can change so rapidly from one place to another. [00:33:34] Speaker E: I know we'll have limited signal out there, but if there was any way. If you could run toxicology, maybe look at his stomach contents, it would. I would owe you a great favor. [00:33:47] Speaker D: I will certainly do my best. This is not the most equipped of areas. But I will see what I could find. Hopefully by the time you're done over there. [00:33:58] Speaker E: One can hope. Well, how do we feel about another road trip? [00:34:04] Speaker A: Why do you say it like we have a choice in the matter? We always knew we were going to have to keep driving Vienna. [00:34:12] Speaker E: Well, I. I want it to seem like it was your choice. It's. [00:34:17] Speaker B: Does it accelerate things if the Bunsen burner is still on? [00:34:22] Speaker E: Jesus Christ. You didn't turn it off. You never leave a flame unattended. Let. And I just kind of push my way past Keith and start cramping down the stairs as quickly as I can. [00:34:31] Speaker C: I'll take shotgun then. Far away from that Bunsen runner. [00:34:37] Speaker D: Very well. As you all head back to the van, you pile in, checking the resources that you have at hand. I believe one of you has the arsenal edge with your requisition. So if you would like to make your edge test for me. At this point, we can see just how much you have on your person. You'll be making an intelligence and craft roll. Unless you are trying to reach out to other people to acquire them. [00:35:12] Speaker A: No, no, I should be. Should be fine enough on my own. Let's see. That is three successes. [00:35:21] Speaker D: All right. The difficulty is a bit higher than that, but if you wanted to spend willpower to reroll as per standard World of Darkness, you should be able to make it pretty easily. [00:35:31] Speaker A: Sure, let me try that then. Three more. Aha. Yep, there we go. Two more successes. So a total of five. [00:35:40] Speaker D: Perfect. You have your team, requisitions and exotic perks. So you were able to procure. You were able to procure. Rather you brought with you or have assembled a similar style weapon for each of the hunters here. Exotic being things that would be more in line with what a hunter might use for hunting the supernatural rather than your regular bullets or blades. I leave it up to you to determine what weapon, what, what set of weapons it is that you have brought with you for everybody. [00:36:13] Speaker A: I mean, you can never go wrong with shotguns, especially when dealing with the supernatural. They come hard, they come fast, they get right up close and personal. So having modified shotguns is. And modify. When I say modify, I definitely mean like illegal modifications that they should not have so sawed off is kind of. Is the simplest form of that. But unfortunately, not knowing that we were dealing with, you know, or not knowing what exactly we were dealing with, I'm not, you know, we didn't really have time to prepare a whole arsenal specifically for fish. But I also don't know how you fight a fish, except with harpoons. So yeah, so I definitely would have, would have prepped a nice little arsenal with different types of slugs and buckshot. But aside from that, it's actually a pretty standard affair. [00:37:16] Speaker D: Completely reasonable. All right. With that then checking all of your requisitions, getting set up, you continue the drive outward another 45 minutes or so past Essex, again just past the city of Gloucester on the way to Rockport. This is a very small subsect, an old fishing town and Dr. Armitage's description was correct in the fullest. As you drive, you watch the bars on your cell phone drop bit by bit, going in, going, fluctuating between one and nil as you enter the town proper. Everything here is based around this coastal area. It's all very wooden. It looks old, but not run down Ghost town old. More old in the sense of they never decided to modernize. They never decided to push forward and create fancy, flashy new things. This is not a tourist town. It's relatively deserted. Outside, you see the occasional person walking from shop to shop or walking from house to house, trailer into town and back, etc. You pass a couple of notable businesses with sign with signage. There's the Captain's Lodge Motel which is a little bit more inland. There is a good harbor beach inn that's closer to shore. So if you decided that this had to be a longer affair, there is lodging here so you wouldn't have to all sleep in the back of the van as you have had to do in less hospitable areas. You see a couple of restaurants, the standard general store of such a town. Most of the town is based around the view of course though, of the bay itself. There's a one small island that looks just off of the coast and large open sea beyond it. That island looks possibly close enough to be boated to, swam to with enough effort or depending on how low tide gets, there might even be some bit of a sandbar there. As you open up the door to the van, wherever you decide to park, you catch that same sort of briny smell. This is a fishing town after all, and it smells like it. The air is salty and well, I guess there is no describable word for it besides fishy, is there? [00:39:50] Speaker E: Hey Smithy, you got a thermos? [00:39:55] Speaker A: Yeah. And I'll reach out down under the seat and kind of root around and you can hear all the water bottles and cans and stuff before I eventually grab the thermos and pull it out. [00:40:08] Speaker E: Thanks. I reach over to where the Bunsen burners finally died down. And take with a very worn pair of tongs, the sludge. It's orange. It looks like Fanta that's somehow become acidic. And pour it in very carefully just in case we encounter any hostile lenities, maybe melt through some scales. We have no idea what's evolved here. We're looking at evolutionary history, if anything. All right, story. What's our story? [00:40:38] Speaker A: Well, I will say that when I see her take the beaker and pour liquid into my thermos, I just kind of get this sad little look on my face because if she had mentioned that she was gonna ruin it for food forever, I probably would have lied and said I didn't have one handy. That would have been nice to know. But this is why Vienna doesn't say things. And I should get better about asking. I mean, I. We can. We can go talk to the local police, see if they've seen anything weird, or go talk to anybody. That works out on the docks. We've got a couple options, I guess. [00:41:27] Speaker E: Police force might be a good start. Thinking the old white coat routine, asking about the murder. FBI. [00:41:35] Speaker C: Do we know where, like, who discovered the body? Like, was it the professor? Because if it wasn't, then we can also figure out who. Or see if we can track the person down or the people down that found the fishy body. [00:41:54] Speaker D: So the body was found outside of this town. So it wasn't found by anybody here in town. To do that, you would have to, well, exit town. Again, trying to find that person. [00:42:08] Speaker C: Oh, they weren't affiliated with the town. Sorry, that's on me. I thought they were. [00:42:12] Speaker D: Yeah. The people that found the body were not affiliated with the town. Oh, gotcha. It is. Yeah. It's estimated that this person came from this area of town. Particularly with Dr. Armitage's additional research. As you all look around, walk around would be the way to do it. Or drive around. There is no effective Googling here. You discover one of the other fun quirks about small towns such as this. The nearest police station is not in this town. It is the Gloucester Police Department in the city of Gloucester proper. It's only about a 10 to 15 minute drive. But it is not in this town at all. Looks like this is a place where they handle their own business. And if things are absolutely necessary, there would be a call to the nearby police department. Again, this is. This is an older town that is not so much an official town on the maps. [00:43:16] Speaker A: Then I think. I think going and talking to folks who Work on the docks near the water. Probably a good bet. Just, I don't know. See if anybody's seen anything weird lately. If this is a fish person coming out of the water. I mean, who better to know if there's any weird things in the water than the people who work on top of it? [00:43:41] Speaker E: Good point. [00:43:42] Speaker B: So I am pretty advanced in years at this point. What is my read on this town as far as their likelihood to talk to cops? [00:43:54] Speaker D: Likelihood to talk to cops is pretty low. You would think talking to people that have come from out of town, a little more likely. So long as you don't. They don't get that bad vibe read off of you. Willingness to talk to folks looking for work higher. It's one of those types of places. In your drifting time, you have been in places kind of like this, but not to this level. [00:44:28] Speaker B: Right. I think with that, with noticing that, I will probably tell Vienna. I would not say that we are associated with the federal government. I imagine that's going to close more doors then it opens. [00:44:41] Speaker E: Oh, good point. Good point. Maybe aspiring marine biologists. [00:44:50] Speaker B: Why don't we start with this? If we're going to talk to dock workers, the most likely thing that we can do is be somebody who is interested in what they are doing and possibly wants to obtain a job. And I'm going to take off anything that would suggest that I have any amount of money, which. Which isn't hard because I don't really take care of my looks, so I look like trash most of the time anyway. But I will leave myself with weapons. [00:45:13] Speaker D: Fair enough. [00:45:14] Speaker B: Yeah, I am pretty positive I could get them to at least talk to me a little bit if I'm approaching them as a potential person who wants to work on the boats. [00:45:28] Speaker C: While you do that, do we want to send out one of my drones just to survey the area from up above? Might get us more intel. [00:45:37] Speaker E: Oh, absolutely. For looking at this thing's habitat. Then if you could scan over the waters, maybe the sand banks, that island, and I point out through the window, that could be very useful. If we find a nesting ground, even we're made. [00:45:53] Speaker A: Keep it in your pants, Vienna. [00:45:56] Speaker E: Well, I'm sorry, one of us has intellectual interests. Vampy. [00:46:03] Speaker D: All right, let's go ahead and start with Keith, since Keith is running solo over to the docks. Keith, you relieve yourself of weaponry. And what few things make you look less like a working man. As you begin to depart from the group, you feel a small tug in your chest. And you know that feeling immediately, which is you are leaving Your weapon behind. At this point, you're not 100% sure if it's you feeling a need to protect yourself or if it is the weapon rejecting the notion of being discarded. [00:46:49] Speaker B: I think it's become definitely the second one. Again, I don't have any sort of reverence for this item. I am thinking of it more as this thing that is constantly beckoning me back so it can sit there and suffer for a little bit for all I care. I know what I need to do. [00:47:09] Speaker D: With it very well. Do you have. You've never felt any negative consequences for doing so in the past, so there's no reason to suspect that it would start up suddenly anytime soon. It's just a bit of an annoyance for you at this point. But you. You walk towards the docks near Good harbor beach, you see. You see a few folks out on the docks loading up smaller, smaller boats with various equipment. Looks like just some general fishing that'll be happening in the bay, but not recreationally. It looks like people that actually make a career out of this, but they're not. But it's not as big of a bay to do large fishing boats. You see a few men in the standard turtlenecks and wool caps. It would almost be stereotypical if the whole town wasn't sure. [00:48:11] Speaker B: All right, well, I think if I'm just approaching people on the docks, honestly, I could probably walk up to anybody and be like, hey, is there somebody I can talk to? I'm looking. I just got into town and I'm looking to make a little bit extra money while I'm here. [00:48:28] Speaker D: They don't. They don't stop looking. But one of them goes, like, what you looking to do? As he just continues to load gear into the boat. [00:48:35] Speaker B: What do you need done? [00:48:39] Speaker D: Well, I don't. I don't really know. We got. We got plenty of hands for fishing. But, you know, August Bo is always, always could be more. If you find yourself a group that needs it, probably talk to. I talk to Jeff at the general store, see if he needs any extra hands. I don't know. We ain't wanting for much around here. [00:49:06] Speaker B: Sure, sure. Hey, I was wondering. I heard about some stuff that was going on recently. Something about some sort of fish person. Like, you guys know anything about that? Honestly, I just heard about it on the way in and sounded pretty, pretty weird. [00:49:21] Speaker D: And two of them continue to load. The one that was talking to you just tossed and stuff it and, like, straightens up and turns and look at. Looks at you and goes, a what now? [00:49:31] Speaker B: You know, the somebody. Some lady at the bus station was talking about they found some sort of weird thing out here. I mean, I. I know people say that all the time about, you know, places where they're bored, but I don't know, just out of curiosity. [00:49:47] Speaker D: Ah, don't know nothing about no fish people right here. Only. Only fishing people. But you said some lady at. The lady at a bus station. [00:49:59] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, I'm sure it's. People just talk, you know, Got a round here wouldn't be able to tell you. She didn't look like she was traveling from far away, so maybe. I'm not sure. I've been all over the place. It's kind of hard to tell people for, you know, where they come from. [00:50:24] Speaker D: Well, no, I don't. Can't say I know. Can't say I know nothing about that. Keith, if you'd like to give me a wits and awareness role or a wits and insight role, depending on how you'd like to examine the situation, let's. [00:50:37] Speaker B: Go with witson awareness. [00:50:39] Speaker D: All right. [00:50:40] Speaker B: And we're at one for desperation, is that correct? [00:50:43] Speaker D: We're at one Desperation Die is available to you. [00:50:46] Speaker B: Oh, okay. So I don't have to consider it. That would be one success. [00:50:52] Speaker D: One success. You're like. You're not able to get much of a read on this guy. You can't tell if his dismissiveness is hiding something or if it's just the usual, like talking to a stranger dismissiveness. With one success, though, you do notice, and you only notice it because you've just sort of recently seen it on his neck. It's not quite a turtleneck. It's a turtleneck, but it's pulled down a bit for comfort. You see a patch of very dry, scaly skin. It seems to be the only bit there, but it looks like this guy has his own patch of incredibly dry skin that he has that he has scratched at again and again as he's talked to you. [00:51:43] Speaker B: Gotcha. I'm definitely not gonna call attention to it, because that's gonna raise suspicion, but I'll just kind of log that away and be like, okay, well, he said the general store was the place to go. [00:51:53] Speaker D: Yeah. Jeff over there is probably one. If he. If anyone's gonna help. Jeff might need help stocking it, because he's the one that's doing it by himself all the time. [00:52:01] Speaker B: Excellent. Excellent. All right, I'll go talk to Jeff. Thanks. [00:52:05] Speaker D: Mm. And he continues loading things up into the boat while you have that conversation. I believe Felix wanted to make use of his drones to get an overhead survey of the town? [00:52:19] Speaker C: Yes, please. [00:52:21] Speaker D: Now, Felix, you have, you. You have a. One of your drones has a special skill. Is this one of the flying drones or is this Wilbur or Henry that has a special skill attached to it? [00:52:34] Speaker C: I think it was. I think it's Henry. [00:52:37] Speaker D: Okay. All right. So. All right, Just wanted to check. That's not going to give an additional thing to it. So you're just going to make a whips and technology roll to pilot your drone. It will be. It will be autonomous, so it's. So it can take off and actually maneuver around on its own, but just to make sure that you can maintain control and move, most importantly, maintain signal. [00:52:58] Speaker C: No, that's a success on my end. [00:53:01] Speaker D: All right. How many successes do you have? [00:53:03] Speaker C: Two. [00:53:04] Speaker D: Two successes. Yeah. [00:53:06] Speaker C: Yeah, sorry. [00:53:09] Speaker D: No worries. So with two successes, you're able to keep everything up and active and reporting signal back. Fortunately, it's not a particularly high difficulty for you to. For you to make this work. And since you're not going to be keeping the drone up in the air for an extended number of days, that's just fine. As you, as you fly around, what are you looking for in particular? Or are you just trying to map out the town? [00:53:40] Speaker C: Well, both. I'm trying to map out the town a little bit more to see where is what, but taking Vienna's comments into consideration, definitely seeing if there is any like, I guess, unusual environmental happenstance along the coast as well as maybe like anything in particular. I don't know how like. Well, I can like zoom in on that drone or what I can see, but if there's like, for example, like a bunch of people going in on one place and out another. You like loading and stuff that might be of interest to see what is happening over there. But yeah, just in general. Stuff like that. [00:54:22] Speaker D: No, absolutely, yeah, we can definitely do that. You're not going to be able to do incredible telescopic zooming on here, but you're able to get at least a good bird's eye view of things. Let me take a quick roll myself. Okay. You're able to chart the town. It's not a large town, so you're able to track it pretty well. Most, it's mostly. It's mostly houses and trailers, small houses at best. Single family. Nothing particularly large or fancy here. The commercial element of the town is limited to a few blocks in either direction of where you are right now. Drone flying overhead again, you see occasional people. It's not a busy day in town. It's mostly one or two people walking, walking on. On any given street, at any given point, a couple of them do glance up and, like, as your drone flies overhead and notice this strange little contraption whizzing across the block. So you have not gone without notice, but turning things over to the coastline you fly over, you're able to see Keith departing the docks as you take out over the water itself. It's mainly just a fishing area. You can tell just by the number of docks that are here. This looks like the area that is commonly fished between here and the island that's out in the bay. Nothing jumps out at you immediately, but the further out, closer to the island, away from the shorter you get, the spottier the signal gets on your drone. And you would know that after, like, you know, there would come a point where if you push it, you might lose that drone. [00:56:12] Speaker C: Okay, question for the spotty signal. Do I think that that is natural just because we're, like, in that kind of area, or do I think that's unnatural for the island, given that I know about drones? [00:56:29] Speaker D: Make. Make me an intelligence and technology role. [00:56:32] Speaker C: Okay. [00:56:34] Speaker D: Because we're weighing. We're weighing everyday things with. Against your knowledge of your own technology. [00:56:41] Speaker C: Yeah. That is still two successes. [00:56:53] Speaker D: Okay. You are. You're not sure if you're not sure at this point because you are flying out more into the ocean itself. So it's a bit hard to determine if it's, you know, what, we're getting out of range. But to you personally, you feel like your drones have a better range than the length of this small town. You should be able to maintain pretty good signal, at least a good deal out. A good. A good deal out off of the bay itself. So things getting kind of spotty here feels off to you, but it's hard for you to land on anything particular. You can't be 100% certain that, no, this is not the way things should be. [00:57:36] Speaker C: Okay, so I think Smithy and Vienna are still, like, with me, right? Like we didn't separate. Yes. [00:57:45] Speaker D: You are still standing together at the van, which is the base of operations right now for your drone piloting. [00:57:51] Speaker C: Perfect. Well, as I look at my screen and observe my drone, I will share that information with Smithy and Vanna, emphasizing obviously that I do not feel like my drones should give up here, but I would definitely check out that island. Maybe we can see if Keith can find a boat to operate to get to that island. I think that would be a good second step. I'm a little concerned about that one. [00:58:25] Speaker E: Figures. I think they got a town hall or anything. Historical center. At least a placard we can read. [00:58:35] Speaker A: Have you? No, I don't think that. Actually. [00:58:41] Speaker E: I shudder at the thought of illiteracy plaking this town. I'm not surprised, but it still disturbs me. [00:58:49] Speaker C: I think other things should disturb you more. Right now. [00:58:55] Speaker E: I'm the second most wanted woman in the United States right now. I'm behind Ghislaine Maxwell. I've seen other things than this, but illiteracy? [00:59:04] Speaker A: Do you want to say that louder? I don't think everybody in the town heard you. [00:59:09] Speaker E: It's not like these hicks can hear us anyway. Look, they're all shoving sardines up their ears. [00:59:15] Speaker C: They can't read, but they can still hear. That's not the same, like, at all. [00:59:21] Speaker A: While Felix and Vienna are having this conversation. Ken, can I. I would like to kind of like, focus in on my sense the unnatural and just kind of get a vibe check on this little village. [00:59:41] Speaker D: Okay. [00:59:43] Speaker A: It is hands free. So I don't require a focus to do this, correct? [00:59:48] Speaker D: Yes. I'm just making sure. See what else you have. Yes. But hands free is the only perk that you have for this, correct? [00:59:56] Speaker A: Correct. Yes. [00:59:57] Speaker D: Okay, go ahead and make me a wits and occult role, or wits and science, depending on the nature of what you're aiming for. [01:00:05] Speaker A: Yeah, we're going for a cult. I'm looking for weird occult things in this little fishing town. [01:00:15] Speaker D: As you were making a roll, I should let you know that the desperation dice, based off of what you have all been able to learn in your favor so far, has gone up to two. The danger has also gone up to two. [01:00:27] Speaker A: Great. Awesome. Well, that's four successes. [01:00:33] Speaker D: Excellent. Definite. Something. Yeah. This. This town has something unnatural going on with it. You can't narrow down what kind of creature it is. It doesn't feel like it is close by to you, though. You're not in immediate vicinity of anything. The town just has this sort of persistent aura of being affected by the unnatural. And it's. Again, it's not coming from any particular direction. This town itself is being affected, and so you're able to check that off of your list very immediately. [01:01:21] Speaker A: Great. Love that. For us. And I will interrupt Vienna and Felix to just say, hey, there's definitely something strange going on. There's just kind of an aura, and I just, like, gesture towards the space around us. [01:01:44] Speaker C: Do you know where that aura comes from specifically, or are we just talking the town? [01:01:49] Speaker A: It's. It's not. It's just kind of everywhere, but it's not like. It's not like, you know, right next to me or anything like that. So it's. It's possible that your island is a. Is a good starting point, but there's definitely some weirdness in this town. [01:02:10] Speaker C: Do you think if we wander through town, there's a chance that you could pinpoint it more or feel if something in town is off specifically. [01:02:23] Speaker A: I will say from a game standpoint, it requires me to expend willpower to use it more than once per scene. [01:02:30] Speaker D: Assuming that you continue the scene doing it here as opposed to doing it later when you are in town. Yes. [01:02:36] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:02:36] Speaker C: Got it. [01:02:36] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:02:37] Speaker C: Okay. [01:02:38] Speaker A: So, like, I would. If we went into town, I could do it again, but any additional. It would be a little bit harder. [01:02:48] Speaker C: Got it. Okay, then. Seems like the island is a good first starting point. [01:02:56] Speaker D: It's about this point that, Keith, you are able to rejoin the trio with your information that you have found. [01:03:05] Speaker B: Yeah. So I'll walk up and seeing all of them deep in thought, which is something I've probably come become very familiar with. Be like, I hate to break up the think tank, but. So I just talked to some of the folks down on the dock. They say they haven't seen nothing, But I did definitely notice something off about a couple of them. They had something going on with their necks, possibly similar to what our friend had. Question. Is it bright and sunny outside, or are we talking overcast or. [01:03:45] Speaker D: It is. It is overcast outside, but it is still. It's still the afternoon time, so there's sun poking through the clouds. [01:03:54] Speaker B: Gotcha. Okay. So, yeah, that's what I've. That's what I've gotten. They seemed dismissive about it. They were also very interested to know where I got my information. Looking for me to identify a person who had told them. So I think we are on the right track, I would say. [01:04:20] Speaker E: Wonderful. A closed culture. All right. Felix here used their little. What is it? A roomba. I don't remember what it's called. [01:04:32] Speaker C: A drone. But, you know, good. Good guesses. Vienna. [01:04:38] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:04:39] Speaker E: Thought the island might be a place of interest, but I also was hoping we could walk through town and see if Smithy's little spiritual Geiger counter goes off. If any of these fish folk have developed further than just a thickened epidermis. [01:04:54] Speaker D: And Keith, a walk through town would also line up with the seemingly flippant suggestion to check with Jeff, the store clerk. [01:05:02] Speaker B: But yeah, that's. That's. [01:05:03] Speaker D: Apart from looking for. Apart from looking for jobs you also would be pretty aware of if anybody's going to know like the goings on of the town and who to talk to, it's the person that sees the most number of people people in any given day. [01:05:16] Speaker B: Oh absolutely. And given that I also have a sense natural, I'm going to say, all right, so here's what I'm going to suggest we do. I already have a story built up that I am looking for a job. I'm going to reach back into the van and grab my 9 millimeter and just kind of shove it in somewhere in my close. It's inconspicuous, not even missing a beat in my explanation and say I am going to the general general store. I don't think it makes a whole lot of sense if I am saying that I just rolled in from out of town. If I am then seen with the three of you. I care very deeply about you, but if we want information B, being around is going to be a little bit of a hard explanation. [01:05:57] Speaker E: All right, we played the part of Taurus. It sounds like just three friends out in the middle of nowhere with a dead body in the distance. [01:06:06] Speaker B: Be ready for them to not talk to you too if you are a tourist. But that could open some doors that could get you in places and you can feign ignorance. But like I said, I'll head over to the general store, see what I can find. You'll know if I'm in trouble. [01:06:27] Speaker E: I gotcha, huh? I'll check the time, meet back here in about two hours. [01:06:32] Speaker B: Sure. [01:06:34] Speaker E: Good. [01:06:37] Speaker D: All right, we'll pick up again with Keith since Keith is running solo again walking into town. It's only a couple of blocks to the general store but as you walk through town you do walk past the occasional person walking down the street, tending outside of their shop, etc. Are you doing any examination of them or are you pretty focused on your mission? [01:07:02] Speaker B: No, I will absolutely. I mean I haven't been alive this long from being, you know, ignorant to my surroundings. So I am going to play the part of somebody who's trying to make friends with the locals. I am not exactly the most approachable looking person in the world, but if I give a little smile, a little bit of a hand wave, it might soften some people up a little bit perhaps. And if it doesn't, fuck em. [01:07:26] Speaker D: Sure thing. Go ahead and make one or the other either a wits awareness role for your everyday sort of checking in or wits in a cult. If you're trying to sense the unnatural as you talk to the townspeople. [01:07:38] Speaker B: I'm going to do wits in a cult. [01:07:40] Speaker D: All right. [01:07:42] Speaker B: That is going to be five successes. [01:07:45] Speaker D: You get that same feeling that I mentioned earlier that Smithy got where the town itself has this unnatural feel. But as you're talking to these, as you're talking people waving and whatnot, each person has that feeling a bit stronger than the town itself does. You get that sense of closer as you are closer to them and this causing you to keep track of them, eyeball them some more. You see some of these strange looks on some of them. Eyes a little bit bigger than than normal, more dry skin. Perhaps one of them has a bit of jaundice. To them, the folks in this town, by and large look abnormal. Not so much so that it might immediately be cause for alarm. But coming into the town, knowing what you know, you are able to clock it more and more. The more people that you see, it becomes easier and easier for you to pick out what's wrong with this picture as you go across the board. They're rather skittish of a strange large man who they've never seen before walking through the streets of town. But they do not completely run away from you. They do return a wave or a how you doing? Not much for conversation though as you arrive at the general store proper. [01:09:22] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely. I wouldn't try to chat them up. That seems conspiracy. That is definitely cause for alarm. It would just be a hello, hi. Whatever else, I'm not one for small talk, but yes, I will approach the general store. [01:09:37] Speaker D: Fair enough. You approach the general store. It is a bit of a one stop shop. It is a hardware slash houseware slash grocer, convenience slash utility store. A little bit of everything, not enough of everything. It seems to be manned, as mentioned at the dock by one person who you assumed would be the aforementioned Jeff. Jeff is a middle aged man with sandy blonde hair, kind of portly. He's wearing just a wrinkly button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and apron on. He's sort of moving around, just making sure that things are well stocked, well presented really. It looks like he's just trying to keep himself busy as the day goes on. He's not one to just sort of sit behind the counter and read. [01:10:31] Speaker B: Sure. I'm just going to approach him immediately and be like, excuse me, Jeff. And I'm going to extend my hand out. [01:10:41] Speaker D: Yeah. He turns, he goes, yep. How you doing? My name is Jeff. He shakes your hand and again, since I mentioned earlier, it's easier and easier to clock. You see Patches of dry skin along the back of Jeff's hand. [01:10:53] Speaker B: Sure. I'm going to return with the typical, a little bit of a squeeze handshake. Say. Yeah. Very nice to meet you. My name is Keith. I just got in from out of town and I'm looking for a little bit of work. The guys on the dock suggested I come by here to ask you if you had anything that might be going on. [01:11:12] Speaker D: Oh, well, I. You know, it's not always. Not always busy here, but every now and then when we get deliveries in, sure, we'd be helpful to have some help loading stuff in. Probably. Probably have a delivery maybe next week or so. Get them every couple. Every couple weeks. How long are you going to be in town for? [01:11:29] Speaker B: You know, I would say, let's say at least two weeks. I would say before I get to get back on my way. But depending on how things shake out, that could be sooner, that could be later. You know how it is. [01:11:43] Speaker D: All right, all right. No, I completely understand. Well, you know, we're not exactly a profitable town ourselves, but I could probably pay you. Pay you a bit for help with the. The unloading and the restocking as it comes in, if that suit. If that suits your fancy, at least enough to get you probably put up at one of the. One of the inns here. I could talk to the folks there, get you a cheap room as well and, you know, maybe enough money to send you on your way. [01:12:09] Speaker B: Yeah, that'd be great. Where. Where would you recommend that I go? [01:12:14] Speaker D: Well, for the. For the inn, yeah. Oh, either one's good. A good harbor beach inn's got a much nicer view if you. If you care about that sort of thing. Otherwise, Captain's Lodge is, you know, good as any place to sleep. Rest your head. [01:12:29] Speaker B: Excellent. All right, well, thank you very much for the offer. Hey, and I wanted to ask, because this is my first time in the area, I heard a little bit of some weird stories on the way in. Some lady at the bus stop when I came in was talking about they found some sort of, like, fish person or something by the water. Is there. Y'all know anything about that? I. My only concern is I don't want to be somewhere that's going to be overflowed with tourists. There are some folks I'd rather not know where I am. [01:13:02] Speaker D: No, that's. That's completely fair. And honestly, we'd rather ourselves not get flooded with tourists neither. I don't know nothing about no fish people. If some lady. Some lady heard some weird stories probably been talking to Zad a bit too much. He's. He's likely to spin a yarn time to time when he's not completely drinking himself silly. [01:13:23] Speaker B: Is that somebody I assume I will run into in my adventures through the town here? [01:13:27] Speaker D: Most likely. If you find yourself catching a bite to eat down at the. Down at the shop on the dock down over there. Zad tends to hole up there at the corner. He likes to spin tails for anybody that'll listen. Occasionally, we get fast folks that stop through, like, looking to pick up some gas on the way in, look for a bite to eat, and dad will try to, you know, beguile them with. With the strange and unusual whenever he can be coherent for it. Mostly, though, we try not to give him too much mind. [01:13:57] Speaker B: Yeah, I totally understand. I ran into a million people like him. What about in the area? Is there anything I should, you know, go take a look at while I'm here? I know you said the deliveries don't come in for another week, and find some way to occupy myself for a little bit. [01:14:12] Speaker D: Honestly. We're not much of a tourist town, as I said, so not a whole lot to. Not a whole lot to take and see. The view's nice, though. Whenever the. Whenever the tide's low enough, some folks like to head on over to Salt Island. But apart from that, it's just a good view on the beach. Like, people do like to relax here when they don't have to do the work. [01:14:34] Speaker B: Oh, that's definitely what drew me to it. Well, thank you so much, Jeff. I will certainly be back. He said in about a week's time. [01:14:41] Speaker D: About a week's time, I'd say. Yeah, I'd say about a week's time. I'll go ahead and. I'll go ahead and put in a call to the. To the good harbor, let them know that you might need a room for a bit. We can. We can work out paying it back off of the. Off of the. Pay for the work. [01:14:56] Speaker B: I appreciate that. [01:14:57] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:14:58] Speaker B: Thank you very much. [01:14:59] Speaker D: Absolutely, Keith, and nice to have you here in town. [01:15:03] Speaker B: Thank you. And head on my way out. [01:15:06] Speaker D: All right, you head on your way out, Keith. Just standing watching. You head on out. As you exit the shop and walk down the street, pivoting over to the other three, you are exploring town on your own. What are you looking for? What are you aiming to do. [01:15:23] Speaker C: Me. [01:15:24] Speaker E: In a social situation? Hell, no. I am going to look my best part as a tourist. Just snapping very random photos with my camera. Just trying to play the part. [01:15:40] Speaker C: I think I will especially take lead from Smithy on this one, since she has the census, so to say. But I will keep an eye out on seeing if there's, like, any advertisement of, like, renting a boat or, like, any kind of, like, water transportation to get to the island. I will also keep an eye out for any general store just to buy something very specific. [01:16:16] Speaker D: All right. I'd say timing wise, as you're all walking Smithy, we'll get to you in just a moment. But time wise, as you're walking Vienna, you're taking pictures everywhere. You are noticing that the townsfolk are either scurrying their way out of the. Out of the photo as you take it, or they are staring at you with the utmost confusion as you are taking photos. Felix, you are able to find the general store. It's the same general store that Keith went to. It seems that you missed him, though, at this point. [01:16:49] Speaker C: Okay, perfect. I will. I will turn to the others and just be like, give me one second. I just. I just want to check something and go into the general store. Do I see the clerk there immediately? Can I, like, approach him? [01:17:07] Speaker D: Oh, yeah. Jeff is still. Is still in the shop. He has nothing better to do than the shop. [01:17:11] Speaker C: Sweet. I approve, Jeff. And I'm like, hey, weird question. Do you guys sell thermos? Like a canister? [01:17:21] Speaker D: Yeah. You want a drinking thermos? Yeah, yeah, we got plenty of those. [01:17:25] Speaker C: Yeah. Sweet. Can I have one, please? I pretty sure any kind will do, but a sturdy one would be nice. [01:17:34] Speaker D: Sure. Sure thing. Sure thing. He walks back towards the. Like, towards the back area of, like, camping supplies and what? And outdoors supplies. He goes, oh, you don't usually get a whole lot of. A lot of folks from out of town here all at once. You're the second new new face I've seen today. [01:17:49] Speaker C: The second. How curious. Yeah, we were just stopping on a little road trip. We're kind of, like, new in the area and just wanted to see what this fish in town is all about. I personally haven't really been around water that much, so. Yeah, just wanted to check it out. Is there anything we should keep an eye out for? Like, anything specific we should maybe, like, see? [01:18:13] Speaker D: No. Tell you the same thing I told. I told the other guy. Not much of a tourist down here. The view is great, though. If you're going to be here long enough for low tide, then Salt Island's. Salt island is nice. Some people like to go over there from time to time. For most part, people just sort of stick to the beach is when they're not working. There's a fishing ship shop down near the dock too. Is probably, probably one of our better, better restaurants in town. I would say, I would say it's the best one. But you know, there's only a couple, only a few of them here, so I'm not gonna put any of the buddy out over one or the other. [01:18:44] Speaker C: Oh, that's sweet. So if we wanted to get to that, that salt island that you just mentioned, is there like a boat that can ferry us over there or how's that? That sounds super cool. [01:18:55] Speaker D: You could, you can probably talk to the, talk to some of the boats, the fisher boats and see if you. If they'd be willing to pick up some extra dollar to ship you on out there. But otherwise, usually you gotta wait until like early in the morning for low tide to kick in or, you know, a bit later and a little bit later in the evening. [01:19:14] Speaker C: Oh, sweet. Thank you so much for all of this information. You've been like super helpful. I'm not really good with new town, so thanks was like great. I appreciate you. [01:19:24] Speaker D: Well, don't got worried about none. There's not a whole lot here to fret about. And he comes back with a green aluminum thermos. [01:19:32] Speaker C: Sweet. Well, thank you so much for your kindness. Still. I will make sure that I can tell my companions to stay here until the morning. Then how much for the thermos? And obviously your amazing advice. I want to make sure that you do. [01:19:45] Speaker D: Well, the advice is free. That, that thermostat is $12.99 though. [01:19:50] Speaker C: Perfect. I will hand a little bit more than that over still, just, you know, thanks so much. You're the first friendly face I've seen besides my companions. So thank you and have a good great day. [01:20:05] Speaker D: Absolutely. He tries to give you your change back, but if you have exited the shop already, like he'll start to walk wafo and then like just not see him. You'll just put it in, put a little tray at the front of the counter and walk back behind. [01:20:18] Speaker C: Sweet. As I walk out, Smith? [01:20:20] Speaker D: Yeah, go ahead. [01:20:21] Speaker C: Oh yeah, no, I just wanted to say as I walk out, I'm just going to relay the information again. Like I think low tide is a great time to go to that island. And then very nonchalantly, just hand Smithy the thermos I just bought. [01:20:35] Speaker D: Smithy, you are gifted one new hithermus. Before or after that? What are you up to during this expedition? [01:20:42] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I don't want to travel too far away From Felix. Don't want to just kind of leave him stranded at the shop. But I do want to see. Head towards like the docks where obviously we weren't told about Zad. We don't know about Zad, but kind of head in that general direction because that seems to be where there are actually people and things as opposed to not. [01:21:10] Speaker D: And that is true. As you look down in that direction, you see probably about a half dozen people that are just on the beach proper itself. Most like sitting in lawn chairs or throwing a ball back and forth. It looks like more people are at the restaurant that is on the dock as well. Probably closer to dinnertime at this point. Late afternoon, early evening, dinner time. But it seems like this is where most of the people have gone. One person walking away from the dock just gives you all a bit of an odd look as new faces out of town as he hustles his way away from you back into town. [01:21:55] Speaker A: Turn to Vienna and I just say, I. I think this is probably a good place to. To take a look around, see if there's any weirdness. Like I said, gotta go where there's water, right? And, well, there's plenty of it right here. [01:22:12] Speaker E: So that's why I appreciate you, Smithy, willing to get your hands dirty for the sake of knowledge. And I just. I get. Actually, I could tell on my hands and not hands and knees. I get down on a knee to look closer at the underside of the dock. Lots of things like to live under docks, whether that be a Goliath grouper or maybe, just maybe a fish man. [01:22:34] Speaker D: Go ahead and make me a wits and awareness roll as you are looking underneath. [01:22:38] Speaker E: Oh, boy. We can do. [01:22:40] Speaker D: Just want to see what you're able to find. [01:22:43] Speaker E: W. Oh, that's not a hybrid. [01:22:48] Speaker D: As a reminder, your desperation dice count is at two. You can roll two additional dice should you choose to, or up to two additional dice if you get a one on any of them. I will need to know though. [01:22:58] Speaker E: All right, I'm going to roll both. Desperation die. Here goes. Well, good news. No ones. But that's only one success. [01:23:07] Speaker D: All right, you see some like, there's. There's some like salt buildup on the dock itself. Underneath, there's a handful, a handful of bugs that seem to be living under here. You see, maybe a bit more the aquatic kind. Short of, you know, dipping into the water proper, you're not. You're not going to necessarily see fish hiding underneath. Nothing out of the ordinary at this point, though. [01:23:44] Speaker E: Not even salmon or sardines or whatever. The hell swims under these places, eating whatever the fishermen leave for them. [01:23:54] Speaker D: That is true. You would expect to maybe see some sort of activity under here, but no. Safe for insect life. Not much. [01:24:06] Speaker E: Well, it's quiet at least. That's a blessing of sorts, right? [01:24:13] Speaker A: Is it? [01:24:16] Speaker E: I don't think fish can scream, but fish, humanoids. And I whisper this a little bit conspiratorially, maybe, who knows? [01:24:26] Speaker D: Keith, were you going to go try to meet up with this Zad person at the restaurant that Jeff pointed you to? [01:24:34] Speaker B: I definitely think that that sounds more so, like something that I should have everybody with me question. Did Jeff kind of give any sort of implication that Zad was a drunk? [01:24:47] Speaker D: Drunkard? Yes, absolutely. [01:24:49] Speaker B: I definitely think we should bring him booze then. So. [01:24:57] Speaker D: Yeah, you could. You could definitely try to. You could try to, you know, go back to the shop and buy. Buy some stuff from the general store or find more of a grocer, or if since he is posted up at said restaurant, you could also just offer to buy him a drink there. [01:25:16] Speaker B: I like the idea of something that we can take with us, so especially if we need to get them away from said restaurant. All right, we'll just for sake of expediency, I will go buy a bottle of something from wherever the nearest place is. I don't know, let's say Zadok's whiskey. [01:25:40] Speaker D: Sure. [01:25:40] Speaker B: Something like that. Some bottle of whiskey. [01:25:44] Speaker D: Easy enough to acquire a single bottle of whiskey. [01:25:47] Speaker B: I think with that, I will kind of tuck that into my pocket or something like that. Something where it's not me just openly carrying it, and then try to find the rest of the group. [01:25:59] Speaker D: All right, as you wander, you're heading back in the general direction of the van, which is going to take you by the dock areas. You'll be able to sort of walk along the coastline. So you could scout out that area where you were pointed to Zad in the first place. And you will wind up running into this trio on your way back to the meeting spot, as they are already in this general area examining the dock. So fortune befalls you. [01:26:26] Speaker B: Okay. I think I would probably, definitely expect Vienna to still be looking underneath the dock. Well past the. Yeah, I would probably approach and be like, do you find anything good? [01:26:40] Speaker E: Jesus. God, you're quiet for someone so big. No, it's actually eerily quiet. I'd say usually you have some kind of fish looking for scraps. Not even a grouper. How about you? What'd you find? [01:26:55] Speaker B: I found somebody that we are likely going to want to speak with. And I got a little friend here and shake the bag that's going to help us with that. [01:27:06] Speaker E: Nothing like small town alcoholism to get us what we need. [01:27:12] Speaker B: I'll look over at the rest of you and be like, what about y'all? You want to come help me get some information? [01:27:21] Speaker A: Oh, sure. Not much else to do around here. [01:27:27] Speaker C: Am I back for this already? Did I follow to the docks or. [01:27:30] Speaker D: Am I still upset? [01:27:32] Speaker C: Okay. [01:27:32] Speaker D: Yeah. You got the thermos to Smithy and then followed Smithy down to the dock area with Vienna. [01:27:40] Speaker C: Cool. Okay. I just want to be sure. Yeah, I'm done. Can I have a sip of that first, though? [01:27:47] Speaker B: No. [01:27:49] Speaker C: Darn. [01:27:52] Speaker E: Don't worry. I'll buy you juice when we get there. [01:27:56] Speaker B: I have no idea what this man's convictions are, but I know for damn sure if I was having a bad day and I went to crack open a bottle and it didn't snap, I'd probably be pissed. [01:28:08] Speaker C: Geez. Just asking for a little sippy sip. [01:28:13] Speaker D: Very fair. All right, so, Keith, are you going to lead the way over to the restaurant then? [01:28:18] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. [01:28:20] Speaker D: All right, and three of you follow Keith with his. With his lead on somebody to talk to with his gift in tow. You head on up to the restaurant. It's a fish and chips restaurant. It's one of the bigger buildings, one of the bigger shops in town. It looks like it's meant to feed the town at large. Given its proximity. This is probably where a lot of the fishing goes is into the food for the town. So you head on up and a young woman greets at the front and goes, hey, there. You all dining with us tonight? [01:28:58] Speaker B: We are indeed. There's four of us here. [01:29:01] Speaker D: Excellent. You got any preference inside, outside? [01:29:05] Speaker B: I'm going to take a quick look around. Do I see this person in question. [01:29:09] Speaker D: Anywhere in the establishment inside? You do not. [01:29:13] Speaker B: Okay, let's go with outside. It's a nice enough. [01:29:16] Speaker D: All right. All right, sounds good. Come on, follow me. And she. She walks you back out the front and around the dock where many tables have been set up. Telling you she tried to pull a couple of them together because the tables out front are usually. Usually for good for two or so, but she does pull them together, sits you down and goes, can I get y'all anything to eat or drink? Just start like, do you know what you want already? Something to drink? Water. [01:29:44] Speaker B: I'll look at the rest of you and be like, what do y'all want? [01:29:48] Speaker E: I'm personally a little cautious about this water. I'm gonna go with something carbonated. Can I just get a rum and coke? Have you got that on hand? I'll take anything with bubbling alcoholic. [01:30:00] Speaker D: Sure. You want a can, Coke or well, Coke. Well, Coke, yeah, the behind the bar sounds charming. [01:30:10] Speaker E: Sure. [01:30:12] Speaker D: All right. Anybody else? [01:30:14] Speaker A: I'll take, I'll take a can, please. No ice. [01:30:18] Speaker D: All right. [01:30:19] Speaker B: Beer, please. [01:30:21] Speaker D: All right. Any particular kind or just what we got? [01:30:24] Speaker B: Whatever you got. [01:30:25] Speaker D: All right. [01:30:26] Speaker C: Any user, a shot of your strongest alcohol. I do not need to know what it is. [01:30:35] Speaker D: All right, drinks all around. I'll be right back then. [01:30:40] Speaker A: Thank you. [01:30:41] Speaker D: And she heads on back into the restaurant. [01:30:45] Speaker B: When she departs, I'm definitely going to be looking for this individual. [01:30:51] Speaker D: It's not particularly hard to pick out the weirdo town drunk that you have been pointing to as he is the only person that is sitting by himself towards the corner of the dock. The most disheveled looking person with a few glasses on his table and nothing else. [01:31:17] Speaker B: I'm definitely going to approach him to ask him if he wants to come and have a drink with us. [01:31:22] Speaker D: All right, so you walk up to this man, he's got, you know, very, very, very dark skin. It looks, it looks like it's sun and salt. Worn, not dry the way you've seen others. Just more of a man that has been on the water quite a bit of his life. Shirt on, shirt untucked, buttoned, misbuttoned, scruff with not a full beard. He looks up to you as you talk to him and goes, pardon. [01:31:53] Speaker B: I said, hey, friend, would you like to have a drink with us? I see you over here by yourself and I'm not one for letting people just sit by themselves and drink. [01:32:03] Speaker D: Well, you're awful. You're awfully kind, you know, I would love to. I would love to. And he wobbly, stands up from, from his chair and extends a hand to you with Zad Allen is the name. [01:32:17] Speaker B: Nice to meet you. My name is Keith. Take his hand. I'm not gonna like, you know, squeeze it like I'm trying to break his hand. Just a little bit of stability. [01:32:26] Speaker D: Well, Keith, you, you lead away. Lead away then. [01:32:30] Speaker B: Sure. And I'll lead him back towards our table. [01:32:33] Speaker C: As I see, as I see them coming back over, I like lean to my other companions. I'm just like, I actually take back that I wanted to sip. He clearly needs it more than me. [01:32:44] Speaker D: And yeah, the three of you see Keith return with this not middle aged, not elderly, very drunk man who joins you at your seat and goes, oh, you got a bit of a party going hello, folks. My name is Zad Allen. It's pleasure to meet all you. Your friend Keith here said that wanted to have some company and. Well, who better, right? How are you all doing this evening? [01:33:15] Speaker A: Great. Great, Zad. Wonderful to. To meet you. I'm Jane and I'll hold out there, Jane. [01:33:23] Speaker D: Nice to meet you, Jane. [01:33:27] Speaker E: I'm Kat. Jane here said I needed a break from my PhD study, so she's taking me on a tour of the country. It's good to actually see the world outside the classroom. So nice to meet you. [01:33:40] Speaker D: It's a pleasure to meet you too, Miss. [01:33:44] Speaker C: I'm Feet. And clearly getting the hint too late. I quickly like, I'm Fero Figaro. [01:33:57] Speaker D: Like the, like the opera thing. I like that. Your parents must be in for the classics. [01:34:03] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, they love the singing and the belting. Anyways, I saw that Keith gave you a welcome present to our table. That's so great. How long have you been in town for? [01:34:20] Speaker D: I have been. I've been in town for, well, the bulk of my life. I had say. I've. It's been. It's been many, many a year that, that I've been here. And the waitress comes back with your drinks. As, as she returns, she goes, zad, are you bothering these poor people? Z goes, I was invited to sit down by them. She looks tall at you. [01:34:41] Speaker B: For confirmation, I'll be like, yes, he indeed was. Zad, what would you like to drink? [01:34:46] Speaker D: Oh, just a whiskey neat, please. Sure. The waitress looks, looks agitated at, you know. Oh, good. More whiskey for the man. [01:34:57] Speaker B: It's all right. We'll keep. We'll keep an eye on her. [01:35:00] Speaker C: Make that too. And I quickly down the one drink that she gave me. [01:35:06] Speaker D: And Figaro just points with a, with a grin, goes, I like, I like you, Figaro. Yes, two then, please. And waitress just sort of begrudgingly nods and heads on back. And Zad turns you on, goes, so what brings you out of town? You. You. You here for the, the fishing life? You looking for the. Looking for adventure out in the world, you sailors? [01:35:36] Speaker B: Well, Zed, we, we came into town because we, we wanted to see the sites, you know, get a little bit of a taste of things that are very different than, you know, what we're used to everything else. We all come from larger city areas and have heard tales of the east coast and talking around town. You're the person to talk to about getting some information on this area. [01:36:00] Speaker D: I am the knowledgeable source, yes. He pulls out from his pocket just like a, like a mid Sized stick of beef jerky and just starts, like tearing at the wrapper. Yeah. I am the one that you would talk to to get your history and your. And your storytelling. Pray tell, what. What y'all interested in? What. What stories bring you over here? [01:36:22] Speaker B: I'm definitely going to take his slim Jim and cut the top of it off with a knife and then hand it back to him, too. [01:36:28] Speaker D: Kind friend. [01:36:31] Speaker E: I'm gonna lean on. I'm. I'm playing like back into my freshman days and I was still happy. So, Zed, I'm something of a marine biologist, and I have to. Have you ever seen anything weird around here? I've heard, like, the stories, you know, champ. Loch Ness monster, anything. I breast woobily upon the table. [01:36:54] Speaker D: Stories. You know, we. We get plenty. We get plenty of stories here about, you know, you know, fish and stories of, you know, some people caught something, you know, something too. Something big. One. One of one. One of the folks, Dylan down at the dock swears that he caught one of them the prehistoric fishes one time. I. I can never. I never say the word right. Yeah. Yeah, that's the one. That's the one. These words. You cat one of them. Sometimes you're so smart. [01:37:28] Speaker E: Co. Co. I'm stupid. Your honor, let me try that again. Se. [01:37:34] Speaker D: We got all sorts. Yeah, we got all sorts of stories around here. Ah, it's a. It is a town full of history, full of. Full of wonder. As he just bites onto the jerky. Are you all. I assume you all are just enjoying your drinks as you talk with him. [01:37:54] Speaker E: Before I take a sip, I'm just going to peer into the fluid. Are there any little floaters? Anything interesting? [01:38:01] Speaker D: Nope. It's just as far as you can tell, it's rum and, well, coke, I believe. You didn't specify. No ice. So there. There are some ice cubes in it, but apart from that, it's just rum and Coke. [01:38:12] Speaker E: There goes my chance for a water sample. I'll sip. [01:38:15] Speaker D: All right. And then, Keith, you were saying? [01:38:18] Speaker B: I was just going to say that I want to get about four in him before I start asking questions about weird shit. [01:38:24] Speaker D: Okay. That's easy enough to do. Between the bottle that you brought and just the waitress, seeing that clearly you are enjoying yourselves, she gives like a cautionary look to you, which you could read as, you know, don't let Keith spend all your money here. Yeah, Keith. Yeah. Don't let Keith spend all your money here on Zad. [01:38:45] Speaker B: I'll. Yeah, I'll get her to bring us, like, you know, pretzels or something. Something that would. Would justify us staying here and not just being, you know, loitering. [01:38:58] Speaker D: Are you talking like. You're talking like heart, like, like hard, like stick pretzels or like soft pretzels? [01:39:01] Speaker B: Doesn't matter. Whatever looks the best on the menu. We're probably not going to. [01:39:04] Speaker D: Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. This. Yeah, soft pretzels are brought to the. To the table. Zad is content with his jerky and whatever whiskey you bring him, though, but you definitely are able to get plenty in him. [01:39:16] Speaker B: Excellent. And I think after. After that third or fourth drink, I'm going to turn to him and not like, trying to intimidate him at first, but be like, so, Zad, have you heard anything about this fish people thing? [01:39:36] Speaker D: He coughs a little bit in his. In his whiskey and goes, fish people? [01:39:44] Speaker B: Yeah. Somebody said that they found something inland recently. You know anything about that? [01:39:52] Speaker D: Well, I don't know anything about that, but I wouldn't. Wouldn't. Only thing about that that would surprise me is that some. Somebody left the town. [01:40:03] Speaker B: They had some weird stuff on the neck, almost looked like gills. I can't help but notice that I've seen a couple of people around with the same thing. [01:40:13] Speaker D: You have, ain't you? [01:40:16] Speaker B: And you would know exactly what that is, wouldn't you, Z? [01:40:22] Speaker D: I heard stories. I definitely heard stories. What is exactly that brings you here? You ain't. You ain't here for the. Just traveling about. Age is you? [01:40:33] Speaker B: Let's call us cleaners and let's go ahead and hear about this story, please. [01:40:43] Speaker D: It is. It's a long story that I can make short. And Zad begins to tell you a story that starts some centuries ago. It starts with a trading boat in the Pacific led by a man named Captain Marsh, according to the legend. And as you listen, it's a bit hard for you to tell how much of this is exactly exaggeration. But Zad seems to be the only one that's taking your talk of fish people seriously. So take it as you will. He tells a story about how while Captain Marsh was trading in the Pacific, encountered a creature some of the locals called a God that stowed away on the travel back here. And it makes its home here on this side of the world in this bay. Tells you about how servants of the deep claim tribute. Some nights coming out of the sea, it's ingrained itself in the town, giving a bountiful haul in exchange for sacrifice. But it makes the town more pliant. That's why Zad diet is basically Just whiskey and jerky. At this point, he's not one for the fish of the town. And he continues to tell you the story about how the more people live here and profit from the boon of the town, the more compliant they get. The more lenient they get, the more willing they get for the Sea God's wants. Sea God is content still to own this space of land with its town full of followers. This is its territory, and it. It's made its home here so much so it. You know, one might. One might say that the two are inseparable. At this point, as he talks, his eyes sort of glaze over, staring out at the sea. And as you watch, his face falls. His eyes come back into focus. He stares, looking out the horizon. Out in the water he goes. He shakes his head and says, I've said too much, and starts to gather himself up. I've said too much. [01:43:29] Speaker B: Oh, but Zad, that's exactly why we're here. [01:43:34] Speaker D: No, no, I've said too much. And the longer you all hear, the more you're going to be noticed. [01:43:44] Speaker C: Well, we don't. And influenced by the couple of drinks that I had with him, I will just be like. Well, we don't necessarily, like, have to, like, stay here, but that island over there, like the salt island, that has something to do with us. All right? [01:44:07] Speaker D: I don't trust the people that go over there. [01:44:10] Speaker C: Do they come back usually? [01:44:16] Speaker D: Look, friends. You see? Friends. You seem like. You seem like good people. I urge you to get out of here before it's too late. If you've been here this long, you've already been noticed. [01:44:32] Speaker A: As he says this, can I, like, make an awareness roll to see if there's anybody, like, actively watching us right now? [01:44:39] Speaker D: Sure, I. You're doing that. You're doing a regular wits and awareness role, or are you doing your sense of the unnatural again? [01:44:45] Speaker A: No, no, I'm doing just a normal wits and awareness at this point. [01:44:49] Speaker D: Okay. [01:44:50] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:44:51] Speaker E: Oh. [01:44:51] Speaker A: Oh, okay. All right. Well, that's four with a critical. [01:44:55] Speaker D: Okay. As you look around, he's talking how you've been noticed. You've been seen. It does not seem like anybody in this restaurant is looking at you or paying attention to you. You don't get any sense that anybody here is spying on you, and yet you cannot shake the feeling that perhaps Zad has put into you, but you cannot shake the feeling of being watched. Zad stands up and says, keep yourself safe and get out here while you can. And taking another shot of whiskey, he says, thank you for the Kindness. And he stumbles his way away from your table down the dock, leaving you all to sit at the table as the evening begins to set in. [01:45:56] Speaker C: So, since already noticed, how do we feel about taking. Taking a boat tomorrow, early in the morning, to the island? [01:46:08] Speaker E: I appreciate your candor, Felix, and this is going to sound a little unbelievable, and I lean back in my chair and just look around the restaurant. I think we're in over our heads here. And that's how you know it's serious. I'm the one saying this. I love to get my hands dirty. You all know that. But it sounds like there's something far bigger than the four of us here. I say regroup with the truck, call it, and back up and have them raise this place to the ground. [01:46:40] Speaker C: Well, technically, we don't really have any evidence besides a drunk telling us a story and some gills that we may or may not have seen. Just playing devil's advocate here. So I would feel better if we call in back up with a little bit more substantial evidence to it. I don't mind leaving one of my drones on that island and then surveying it from a distance if that would make people feel more comfortable, but I think we need to have a little bit more before we can justify anything like that. [01:47:16] Speaker D: I will say that if you were to do such a thing, you would wind up having to. You know, if you want to take in them in the morning, you have to leave your drone there overnight and then post up somewhere in town to monitor it, be it at one of the lodgings or in your van. But I'm not sure how long. How much of a battery life your drone has, but it would be. Have to be posted up overnight before you could go back over in the morning. [01:47:40] Speaker B: Also, water plays hell on SO signal. I think I'm gonna stand up, empty my drink, and be like, well, here's what we're gonna do, y'all. I do agree it's probably not a good idea for all of us to go over there if we don't know what's there. We don't know where we're gonna find. I do agree sending in a drone, it seems like a good idea, too, but if we send it over there by itself, probably ain't gonna make it. So what y'all are gonna do is go post up for tonight now, go over there and check it out. I'll bring your drone with me, put it up on one of the trees, give me whatever else you need me to put over there, and I think y'all Know that I will come back. [01:48:25] Speaker E: Okay. Okay. Yeah, if you're going to go there. Working theory, really. And I just start to scramble around in my big old canvas bag and produce the ruined thermos with hopefully still warm fluid in there just in case you get company. If. If my working theory is right and these fuckers have slime coats or whatnot, should dissolve them pretty quick. Fish are pretty delicate. [01:48:53] Speaker D: Keith, are you for posting up for the night? Are you going to tell them all about your potential lodgings at the inn, or are you just planning on posting up in the van for the night? [01:49:02] Speaker B: Well, I guess that's all up to you, y'all. I'll say they did offer us. Offer me a room in one of the local places, which you all are welcome to if you feel comfortable with that. [01:49:14] Speaker A: I'm going to take the weird drunk at his word and hang out in the van outside of town. [01:49:21] Speaker E: Great. I don't want a room they have keys to. [01:49:24] Speaker B: Yeah, I'll go check in there then, and then I'll meet you all at the van. [01:49:31] Speaker C: I can check in with you? [01:49:34] Speaker B: Sure. [01:49:36] Speaker D: All right. So then. With Keith and Felix checking in at the Good Harbor Inn, while Vienna and Smithy head back to the van, prepping materials for Keith to take across the water for a night surveillance, the sun fades over the horizon and this episode comes to a close. We'll see you next time to learn what's discovered and what arises. [01:50:09] Speaker A: Uh, well, I promise I'm not thoroughly creeped out by fish anymore. And it's definitely not weird that I live on an island. I'm definitely, definitely not worried about this at all as V. The Player. But thank you, Zach, for the very first part of Reckoning by the Bay. That was absolutely phenomenal. I love. I love the spooky mysteries and weird fish people, and I'm. I'm all here for it. And I do want to go on record and say that Smithy, thus far has only had a canned beverage and has not had anything that has been made by water from. From this area. So need to go on record and state that, but you all know me. I've been V. With me has been this amazing cast, crew, etc, so I'm just gonna let everybody say a few quick things about them before we say goodbye for the evening. First up, we've got Alex. Alex, if people want to see more of you, hear more of the wonderful things you do, or see if you play Keith in any other games, just. Just not. Not necessarily the. The exact character, but, you know, just the Same archetype. Where can they do that? [01:51:21] Speaker B: Sure. So you can find my other works actually here on qcg. I'm usually in the GM seat, but as you obviously notice, for today, I am in the player seat. You can also find me on any major social media media platform. Lexthedm89 I'm pretty much on all of them on Twitter, Blue sky threads, all the rest of that stuff. And just feel free to give me a follow and hit me up. [01:51:49] Speaker A: Wonderful. Awesome. We love to see it and it's nice that you know we're not, you're not branching out away from your roots. The first thing that you ran for King CG was Delta Green and here we are in Hunter and you've got some cult under your belt. So we've got, we've got all the, all the spooky things and we love to see it. Next up, we have the first of our guests this evening, it's Joe. Joe, if people want to see more of you just being like the sweetest little little guy, where can, where can they do that? [01:52:21] Speaker C: If y'all want to see me be a cute, sweet little guy, you can do it on all of the major social media platforms under Sukijo. Sometimes there's a seven behind it, sometimes not figured out. It will be a mystery. Otherwise, I have a couple of things coming up that I cannot speak about, but definitely keep an eye out on my social media so we can discover together when those will be released and otherwise, please make sure to give all of these lovely people a follow. They've been amazing to play with and I'm so excited for what's to come. Thank you so much, Zach, for your amazing DM skills and all of the players players for their amazing characters. I'm very excited. [01:53:05] Speaker A: I think we all pair that sentiment a hundred percent in here to hear somebody else say really nice things either about Zach or not. We'll go to our next guest of the evening, Abby. If people want to hear more about the things that you do or see more of what you you do, where can they do that? [01:53:27] Speaker E: Well, you can check me out on the Burn and Bird website at Nafabi. I'm doing cultural consultations. I'm doing sensitivity reading. I'm mostly being a silly little guy on the Internet. You can catch me on the Hype Goblins channel along with Zach as a gay little bat. And you can check me watch. You can check me watching my players fumble around in the world of changeling the lost. I consider myself a pretty good champ for my first time being on screen. [01:53:57] Speaker A: We love to see more folks get behind the GM screen because it means that I can put off having to do it again. It's great. It's wonderful. We love it. Now, Speaking of great GMs, great storytellers, tonight's storyteller has been none other than the incomparable Zachary Votto. Zach, if people want to see more about what you do, all of the crazy things that you do on the Internet and beyond, where can they do that? [01:54:26] Speaker D: Well, you can find me on Twitter at. Yep, Itzac. You can find me on Blue sky and Spotify as Sneakernet. I'm also a musician. I make songs for general public, but also theme songs and ambient music for different tabletop streams, possibly even this one to be determined. You can. As for streaming things, you can find me on Lorekeeper on ATL By Night, where I was also a character for eight seasons. I'm on the Hype, Goblins, Luck and Chaos with Abby, as previously mentioned. And then I am running games and playing games on so many channels at any given point in time. Gahanna Gaming, Carried Comfort Studios, Martlet Gaming, Vancouver By Night Cult, Vampire, Werewolf, Dungeons and Dragons, whatever have you liminal horror I've done recently as well. I am, as I usually say, wherever tabletop games are played. [01:55:16] Speaker A: That is true. Zach is everywhere, Anywhere, everywhere, all at once. And of course you all know me, I'm V. You can find me on the Internet at V is for vampire, because my name is V and I like vampires. You can also find me over here at Queen Square Games, doing pretty much all the things you know. We're working on season three of the All Night Society, which means there are two full seasons of great vampire goodness to listen to, the first of which Abby was on, playing the wonderful Rebecca Mitchell. So, you know, definitely, if you haven't listened to the world's most award winningest vampire the Masquerade podcast, you definitely should. Why are you even here? Not listening to that right now. You can go start it right after this. It'll be in the recommended videos, I promise. But yeah, so I. And there's always stuff coming out over here. I'm in it, or sometimes I'm not, but I always do the art for it. So yeah, if you. If you like what you see, it's probably me. But at this point we have a lot to unpack, so I think we're going to call it quits here. And yeah, until next time. Bye for now.